Joel Asoro has achieved his first objective by making an impression on new boss Chris Coleman - and now he wants to prove he is ready for Sunderland’s first-team.

The Swedish striker originally burst onto the scene at the beginning of last season when, after an impressive pre-season campaign, David Moyes handed him his Premier League debut at the age of 17.

But he soon dropped off the radar and then made only a couple of outings at the beginning of this season under Moyes’ successor Simon Grayson.

However Coleman has used him from the bench in all three of his games in charge so far - and in his last two cameos he has had a hand in creating goals, providing the assist for George Honeyman in the 2-0 win at Burton Albion, and last weekend he drew the penalty which Lewis Grabban converted in the 3-1 defeat against Reading.

And Asoro knows that when first-team opportunities come along, he must continue seizing the chances to shine.

“There was a big buzz at the time [of his debut],” said the 18-year-old, who played for Sweden in last summer’s European U21 Championship.

“I am still young now, but I was only 17 then and people had not heard about me.

“But over the season I became a bit frustrated because I thought I might get a few more minutes than I actually got.

“The important thing this season is, first of all, I need to get some more minutes. I need to work hard and try to do as well as I can when I get a chance.

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“I didn’t expect to get 10 minutes at Burton, but I was happy I was able to do something in that time.

“I felt I needed to do something – it could have been score a goal, create a goal, or even just do well defensively.

“I needed to make an impression.”

On Coleman, he added: “I like the way he thinks about football. Every coach is different, but I like the way he works.

“Obviously, all coaches work through the week and we play matches in training, but he has focused on what we do on matchday and making sure we are well prepared.”

Following Asoro’s contributions in the last two games, there will be a clamour for him to start against Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers this weekend, but the youngster is taking nothing for granted.

He said: “Obviously, I would be happy to start but it is not my decision, so I just have to do whatever the manager says.”

Sunderland have a rich history of signing established Sweden internationals, with Stefan Schwarz, Joachim Bjorklund, Seb Larsson, and Ola Toivonen, among those who have played for the club over the last decade-and-a-half.

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But while they all joined as senior figures, Asoro’s potential was spotted by the club’s Scandinavian scout Bjarne Hansen who brought him to Wearside in 2015, when a host of top European clubs including Juventus, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea, were rumoured to be keeping tabs on him.

And Asoro moved to the North East with his mother, and his sister Abi, who is a professional basketball player who had a spell with Team Northumbria before moving to Germany this year to join Chemnitz ChemCats.

Asoro said: “He [Bjarne Hansen] brought me over here to play in a few friendly games, and it went from there.

“First of all I was asked if I could bring someone like my parents with me, so my mum came over here and that really helped.

“My sister was in America but then came here to play basketball for Team Northumbria, but she has done really, really well and has moved to Germany now.

“I had a friend here at Sunderland, Oscar Krusnell, who is the same age but he came from Sweden on his own and had a hard time – I felt a bit sorry for him – and he has now moved back home, so it made it easier for me because I brought someone here with me.

“When I arrived at Sunderland I spoke to Seb [Larsson] a lot – and I have still kept in touch with him - and Ola Toivonen, too, when he was here.

“It is always good to have someone from the same country here, it makes it easier to talk about things – not just football, anything.”